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Printed On: | July 25, 2008, 8:55 pm |
| Category: | Digital Audio Devices | |
| Type: | Reviews | |
| Posted By: | floppy | |
| Date Posted: | July 2, 2007, 6:41 am |
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Zen Stone Plus - 1 Inch OLED Wonder
As mentioned, we tooka look at the Zen Stone a while back, and was quite impressed by the size of the player, and about a month later, Creative started shipping the Zen Stone Plus to stores. Looking at the specifications of the Stone Plus, you might start wondering how on earth did Creative pack so many features into such a miniature device. The original Zen Stone could only function just as a MP3/WMA player and nothing more, but Creative managed to squeeze in an additional OLED display and features such as microphone with recording function, radio and a stop watch!
The Zen Stone fits snugly into the Travelsound Zen Stone
At the same time, Creative also announced a whole slew of accessories to compliment the Zen Stone/Stone Plus, from arm bands to portable speakers. This time round, Creative also shipped us the Travelsound Zen Stone together with the Stone Plus. I was quite impressed by this device, more on the Travelsound speakers later.
Myriad of Accessories to compliment the Zen Stone
Some basic specifications before I continue to feed you guys with more pictures in the following pages of the review.
| Feature |
Description |
| Capacity: | 2GB |
| Song Capacity: | 1000 WMA/ 66hrs (64kbps), 500 MP3/ 33hrs (128kbps) |
| Battery Life/ Playtime: | Up to 9.5 hours for continuous audio playback |
| Battery Type: | Rechargeable Li-Ion Polymer (Embedded) |
| Display: | 64 x 64 blue OLED display |
| Size: | 55.6 x 35.4 x 12.8 mm |
| Weight: | 21g |
| Audio Support: | MP3, WMA, Audible, WAV (IMA-ADPCM 8kHz, 4-bit mono) |
| Mass Storage Device: | Yes. |
| Connectivity: | USB 1.1/ 2.0 |
| Supported Music Services: | Audible (2 and 3) |
| FM: | 32 preset stations |
| Voice Recording: | Yes |
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The Zen Stone Plus
The Zen Stone Plus
Zen Stone plus sitting in the Travelsound with illuminated OLED menu
The Zen Stone sitting side by side with the Zen Stone Plus
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Travelsound Zen Stone
The Travelsound, notice the audiojack? It's streamlined to fit the Zen Stone/Stone Plus accurately. The speakers can function either passively without batteries or actively amplified with the aid of 2xAAA batteries, which is the only power source that this compact speakers could take.
The Zen Stone sitting comfortably in Travelsound
The back of the Travelsound with the 2x AAA batteries compartment and a plastic stand
Switch with LED indicator
Close-up on Audiojack
Afterthoughts
After two weeks with this combo, Here are my after thoughts:
- FM Radio
The reception is very week and it's almost useless in most cases
- Music Quality
Music Quality is ok, something that you will expect from any decent MP3 players.
- Travelsound Zen Stone
Good sound quality, nicely amplified with power from batteries. The rubber grips securing the Zen Stone Plus in place might wear off with time or drop off due to excessive friction.
- Features
Menu is laggy but I'm just being picky. You might have to refer to the manual as some of the features takes quite some time to figure out, such as setting the dates and such.
Overall, the Zen Stone Plus is one of the best MP3 players for sports, jogging & cycling etc. The improvement Creative made on the Plus over the origian Zen Stone is impressive, just with the addition of an additional OLED screen. With that many features all encapsulated in the Stone plus, perhaps the only other con of the player is the size; you might lose it without even knowing it...
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